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Monthly Archives: December 2013

I heard the sweetest interview on the Rickey Smiley show this morning! Gabrielle Union was dishing about the debut of her hit show, “Being Mary Jane“, her surprise engagement at the Miami Heat Christmas Party, her love of “chocolate” and of course her husband to be-Dwayne Wade. Well, later today I read that she got more than just a flawless 8 carat diamond ring, and wedding bells to plan for! There is a baby…from a mystery woman…and Gabby knows….and the wedding is still going to be in September!!!!! Wonder if the mystery baby will be in the wedding….

Saturday night, date night, the hottest and most buzzed about couple of 2012 decided to end 2013 on a high note. Dwayne Wade, Miami Heat star and Gabrielle Union, BET series “Being Mary Jane” star, have made it official and are getting married! In true Miami Heat style, Wade followed in the footsteps of his teammates Lebron James and Chris Bosh by making the Miami Heat Christmas Party a magical affair filled with love, tradition, and family announcements.

Sorry fellas, gorgeous movie star Gabby is off the market. The popular screen actress, best known for her roles in “Bring it On” and “Think Like a Man“, was said to be beaming a megawatt smile all night! This will be the second marriage for both Union, 41, and Wade, who turns 32 next month.

Wade was in a giving mood on Saturday night, gifting his team mates with green “Masters” styled golfing jackets and his love- a huge diamond ring. Wade took to social media to announce that, “She said YES!!!” He delightfully posted pictures of the humongous solitaire ring on her dainty left finger to both his Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Wade was drafted to the Miami Heat in 2003, has played his entire career in Miami, won MVP in 2006, and has helped the Heat win three championships. The Wade-Union family is set to make an official announcement today.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been named the highest-grossing actor of the year! Everybody wants a piece of “The Rock”, and here’s why:
1. The former Miami Hurricane Defensive Tackle/WWE Wrestler demonstrates certain confidence that draws both male and female audience members in. Is it that smile, the raised eyebrow, and the flex of his massive biceps that hook the viewers in…OF COURSE. He is gorgeous! The diverse combination of ethnicities of his parents created a tantalizing DNA cocktail that audiences can’t get enough refills of!
2. Money in the bank, yes. Move over Robert Downey, Jr. The Rock is here. I remember watching The Rock re-enter the press junket in 2011, he gave us fair warning that he was filming and wrapping several films at the same time. When he gave us the “heads up”, we had no idea that he would blow up like this! Jonson starred in four commercially successful films back to back. This is an opportunity that actors pray for. The film, “Fast & Furious 6” grossed $789 million globally. Combined with the box office proceeds from “G.I. Joe Retaliation”, “Pain and Gain”, and “Snitch”; Johnson, 41 year old box office phenom, closed out 2013, raking $1.3 billion in at the global box office. Not too shabby, Dwayne.
3. He is a cool guy. PERIOD. Everybody likes the guy that they can talk to. Johnson learned early on that possessing a positive attitude, being kind to good people and sticking it to the jerks is the way to go. We learned to cheer his good guy character on while watching him in the ring. He has a marketable strategy that has won him a spot in the highest grossing films of the year. He also got involved with smaller films and brought his brand value to them. No film snobbery here. His powerful pitch is engaging but his delivery on film, seals the deal. Yeah, Dwayne…we smell what The Rock is cooking, and we all want a piece!

Much conversation has been about the December 13 release of the Beyoncé album. Her unannounced release of the album came as a holiday surprise. Everyone found out about it at the same time! This well kept secret changed the notion that Friday the 13 is a “bad luck” day. Mrs. Beyoncé Carter experienced the best luck ever. iTunes reports that King Bey broke the record for most sales in one day by eclipsing (nearly doubling) what Taylor Swift was able to achieve in a first week of sales, even with multi-layers of preamble promotion. Beyonce sold over 800,0000 copies of the digital wonder in the first weekend of sales. According to CBS, “Beyonce’s fifth album sold more than 617,000 units in its first three days in the U.S. and 828,773 worldwide – both iTunes records, iTunes says, adding that it leaped to No. 1 in 104 countries.”

She literally changed the game as far as marketing and promotion of newly released music is concerned. She is HER brand, her fans don’t need time to plan for spending money with her-they don’t need advanced warning. When her album hit the digital landscape, she created an “event” that people, worldwide, will remember, forever.

I gave the release of the #Beyoncé album some real thought and consideration. She really made her mark in history. Let me summarize with 3 reasons why I think Bey is deserving of kudos. 1. She saved money on one end of the marketing spectrum by not doing advance promotion to project and gather advanced sales. She just went for it and MADE SALES! She was smart to invest in creating a multi-media work of art that serves as both entertainment and a marketing tool. #smart

2. The songs “Drunk in Love” and “Blow” are currently the most popular songs on the album. Beyoncé offers her artistic interpretations of how she and her husband #Jay-Z enjoy each other. It is lighthearted, flirty, reminiscent of Prince and The Revolution in the 80’s, and filled with metaphors that I’m sure only she and Jay truly understand. It is completely acceptable for her to express that type of attraction and emotion about her husband.There are women out here doing THE MOST (waaaaaaay above their pay grade) for men who wont even be a “boyfriend”! I can appreciate both of them and their healthy attitude toward their commitment to their marriage, family and business. They are getting it “IN”, and I ain’t mad at either one of them!

3. There are women (young and old) wearing less, doing worse, and hurting more people than Beyoncé ever could with this album/videos, but they aren’t making .00000001% in their bank accounts for it. I think this album was revolutionary in that she created a new lane in the game and pulled it off with incredible success. If that isn’t the definition of feminism, I don’t know what is.